Beating the Odds
by alicenotinwonderland
Summary: Tonks is disheartened after her DADA teacher accuses her of not being dedicated enough to become an Auror because of her clumsiness. She finds the Room of Requirement and uses it to prove him wrong. 2nd place in the Room of Requirement Contest!


**This is a oneshot about Tonks finding the Room of Requirement and what it became for her. This is written for NeverBeenDarkMarked's Room of Requirement Competition.**

**Please read and review!**

**Disclaimer : I don't own HP**_._

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><p><em>"I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature." <em>_John D. Rockefeller_

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><p>"Dead," said Professor Iratus, his wand at the pink-haired girl's throat.<p>

"Give me another go, Professor," said Tonks beseechingly. Iratus pursed his lips but agreed.

Five minutes later –

"Dead," said Professor Iratus, his wand once again at her throat.

"Once again, Professor, please," pleaded Tonks.

Another five minutes later –

"Dead yet again," grunted the DADA teacher, this time his wand pointed at Tonks who was flat on the floor.

"Just one more chance, Professor. I _promise_ I'll do better this time," begged Tonks.

Professor Iratus looked at her coldly. "The first time, you lost your footing and your concentration when you tripped over the carpet. The second time, you banged your hand against the torch bracket and knocked your own wand out of your hand. Just now, you tripped over the chair. This is not the first time you have lost a duel in this way either. Every single time we duel, your clumsiness results in your loss.

"You have good grades, Miss Tonks, but you lack the seriousness and commitment required to become an Auror. If you cannot overcome your lack of coordination, you cannot hope to pass my Auror Exercise Sessions and if you cannot even pass _those_, you have no chance of passing the rigorous Auror Training Programs. Go back to your common room and think of some alternative careers," he snapped.

Tonks muttered a hasty goodnight and left the teacher's office hastily. She did not want the DADA professor to see the tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She was sure he'd have no sympathy for her. He'd probably only chastise her further for "letting her emotions – her weaknesses – show in front of the enemy."

Tonks hated not being able to please Iratus. She never had trouble making friends and everyone she met usually liked her – except Iratus. Her hair changed to a dark, depressed blue as she wiped away her tears. She wanted so badly to be an Auror. Like the true Hufflepuff that she was, she stayed up late every night, working hard, determined not to score anything less than an 'E' in any of her subjects. Fun-loving she might be, but she never played the fool in any of her NEWT classes. She always did her best.

Iratus had no idea how much effort she put into her work to make it perfect. He had no idea how hard she'd worked to get good grades in her OWLs the previous year so that she could take up Auror subjects. He had _no idea_ how much effort it had taken to persuade her parents to let her work towards becoming an Auror. Yet, he questioned her seriousness and commitment.

_"If only I could somehow stop tripping over everything, I could show him how determined I am to be an Auror. I could show him I'm not just playing the fool or being clumsy on purpose. If only there was a way for me to practice being more careful,"_ she thought, pacing up and down the corridor.

She suddenly stopped, noticing her surroundings for the first time. Somehow, instead of going _down_ to the Hufflepuff common room, she had climbed all the way _up_ to the seventh floor. She was in a deserted corridor. A tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy hung on the wall and opposite that was a door. A door that had just appeared.

Tonks hesitated. She was naturally curious but she'd learned to tone down her instinct to explore and examine everything after Iratus had set cursed objects around his classroom so that students would learnt not to be tempted to pick up everything they saw. Tonks had trained herself to exercise caution with curiosity (if only Iratus knew how much she'd had to work for _that!_) after she'd ended up in the hospital wing when she'd touched one of those objects. But, curiosity got the better of her now. Wand aloft, she slowly opened the plain wooden door.

Tonks gasped.

She was standing in a large room in which a simple obstacle course had been set up. Cautiously, she moved forward and almost immediately knocked over a traffic cone. As soon as the cone fell over, a loud horn blared and a scoreboard on the opposite wall changed to read "_Objects knocked over: 1."_

Tonks smiled delightedly. "This is perfect!" she said aloud. "I can practice being more careful in here." She put her wand away and started making her way around the room.

However, when she got to the end, she didn't move for a few minutes, afraid that someone might have heard the loud horn. It had blared nearly twenty-five times as she had knocked over obstacles, got tangled in ropes and pretty much tripped her way through the whole course.

But, she wasn't a Hufflepuff for nothing. Her jaw set, she began to make her way back across without much improvement. After two more equally bad tries, she threw her hands up in frustration. "I wish all these annoying obstacles would just disappear!"

Immediately, the room was empty. Tonks looked around, surprised. "Am I in a room that grants all my wishes?" she wondered aloud. She realized what an opportunity she had been given. She could train really well in here. The room could produce anything she needed to overcome (or at least decrease) her ungainliness. She wished back the obstacle course, her eyes determined. She would show Iratus _exactly_ how serious she was about becoming an Auror.

For the next few evenings, Tonks went up to the mysterious room to train. Once she had managed to get through the simple obstacle course with only ten objects knocked over, she wished for more intricate courses. She practiced weaving her way through all the objects that threatened to trip her up until she was satisfied.

When she was a little more confident, she wished for a model Death Eater to chase her as she ran through the same obstacle course. Sometimes, she extinguished all the torches and tried navigating her way through the obstructions in the darkness. She practiced relentlessly for two weeks, willing the Room to give her more challenging courses every day. Then, she went back to Iratus.

Tonks challenged him to a duel which he accepted rather skeptically. Unfortunately...

"Dead," said Iratus, his wand, once again, at Tonks' throat. He looked at the clock. "You went half an hour without stumbling over anything. Have you been practising?" he asked, surprised.

Tonks stared at the floor. She had been so confident that she would be able to keep from falling over something this time. "Yes sir. I've been working on minimizing my clumsiness. But clearly, I'm not good enough. I'll never be an Auror," she sighed.

"Miss Tonks," said Iratus gently. "A real Auror isn't perfect. A really good Auror is someone who never gives up even when they're told to. A really good Auror is someone who never loses hope even when it seems like the battle is lost. I think that with your dedication, you'll make a really good Auror."

Tonks looked up, surprised. Iratus gave her a rare smile. "I'll help you overcome your accident-prone tendencies. Let's see why you can't at least _pass_ your Stealth and Tracking exam in two years' time," he said.

Tonks beamed. "Thank you sir! I promise, I'll be the best student you've ever had"

Iratus smiled. He rather liked this young, energetic sixteen-year-old. Maybe this enthusiastic little girl _would_ be one of the best Aurors. Maybe she would stop knocking over everything bigger than a tennis ball in a few weeks.

CRASH!

"Oops," said Tonks, picking up the chair she'd knocked over.

Iratus sighed. Maybe he spoke too soon.

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><p><strong>I hope you liked it! Please review and let me know what you thought!<strong>


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